Ni Shite wa vs Wari ni: Saying For and Considering in Japanese

The shared idea: expectation and contrast

Ni shite wa and wari ni both build a two-part sentence. The first part sets up a premise that creates an expectation, and the second part says the reality differs from it. In English we say for a beginner, considering the price, or given that, and add surprise with the tone of the sentence.

The result can be better or worse than expected. Shoshinsha ni shite wa jōzu desu, you're good for a beginner, is praise; takai wari ni oishiku nai, it is not tasty considering the price, is a complaint. What matters is the gap, not whether it is positive.

Because both patterns express the speaker's own evaluation of a gap, the second half is a statement or judgement. They do not take requests, commands or intentions after them, which is a common source of mistakes.

How to form ni shite wa

Ni shite wa attaches to nouns directly and to verbs in the plain form. Nouns do not take da before it. It usually does not attach to i-adjectives or na-adjectives, which is the main formation difference from wari ni.

The premise is typically a concrete fact: a person's identity or experience, a specific date, a specific amount or a specific situation. Nihon ni jū-nen sunde iru ni shite wa, for someone who has lived in Japan for ten years, is a fact about a person, and it naturally sets an expectation.

How to form wari ni

Wari ni comes from wari, ratio or proportion, so it literally means in proportion to. It attaches to nouns with no, to na-adjectives with na, and to i-adjectives and verbs in the plain form. Adding wa, wari ni wa, adds emphasis to the contrast.

The premise is a degree or level on a scale: price, age, size, effort, study time. Nedan no wari ni means relative to the price, and the listener fills in whatever expectation that price suggests.

When only one of them works

Many sentences take either pattern, but there are clear cases where only one sounds right. When the premise is a scale word without a specific value, such as nedan, price, toshi, age, or ōkisa, size, use wari ni. Nedan ni shite wa sounds odd, because price on its own is not a fact that sets a level; kono nedan ni shite wa, for this price, is fine because now it is specific.

When the premise is a specific identity or situation that is not a degree, ni shite wa is more natural. Puro ni shite wa, for a professional, and ryūgakusei ni shite wa, for an exchange student, describe categories of people, and wari ni with them sounds less natural to many speakers.

With adjectives, only wari ni works. Takai wari ni and benri na wari ni are natural, while takai ni shite wa is not.

When in doubt, ask whether your premise is a scale or a fact. Scale words go with wari ni; concrete facts and identities go with ni shite wa.

More examples in context

Both patterns are everyday Japanese. You will hear them in reviews, small talk about food and weather, sports commentary and friendly teasing. Pay attention to how the second half always carries the surprise.

Ni shite mo: even granting that

Ni shite mo looks similar but does a different job. Instead of saying reality went against expectation, it accepts a premise and says that even so, something still holds. Jōdan ni shite mo, iisugi da means even if it was a joke, that was going too far.

Paired as A ni shite mo B ni shite mo, it means whether A or B: iku ni shite mo ikanai ni shite mo, renraku shite kudasai, whether you go or not, please let me know. Unlike ni shite wa, this pattern can be followed by requests.

Two fixed expressions are worth learning as chunks. Sore ni shite mo means even so or all the same, and is often used after hearing an explanation that does not fully remove your surprise. Izure ni shite mo means either way or in any case, and is a common way to close a discussion.

Common mistakes

• Attaching ni shite wa to adjectives: takai ni shite wa is unnatural; use takai wari ni.
• Forgetting no or na with wari ni: say nedan no wari ni and shizuka na wari ni, not nedan wari ni.
• Following either pattern with a request or intention: gakusei ni shite wa, motto benkyō shinasai is wrong. Use nara or no dakara instead: gakusei na n dakara, motto benkyō shinasai.
• Using them when there is no gap: shoshinsha ni shite wa heta desu, bad for a beginner, sounds strange because beginners are expected to be bad.
• Confusing wari ni the pattern with the adverb warito or wari ni, meaning fairly: warito oishii is fairly good, with no premise.
• Using ni shite mo where ni shite wa was meant: kodomo ni shite mo jōzu means even granting it's a child, it's good, which is a different point.

Related patterns: to shite wa and no ni

Noun plus to shite wa can also mean for a member of that category: hoteru to shite wa semai, small for a hotel. It is close to ni shite wa but focuses on judging something by the standards of its category, and it sounds a little more neutral.

No ni, although, shares the idea of a gap but carries stronger feeling, often frustration or regret: takai no ni oishiku nakatta, it wasn't good even though it was expensive. Wari ni sounds more like a calm evaluation; no ni sounds like a complaint.